'A save a life'

Monroe Police Department will host its second community drug forum on Nov. 8

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The Monroe Police Department will host its second “Save a Life” community drug Forum on Wednesday, Nov. 8, at 6 p.m. at the Sacred Heart School on Still Road.

MONROE — The Monroe Police Department will host its second “Save a Life” community drug Forum on Wednesday, Nov. 8, at 6 p.m. at the Sacred Heart School on Still Road.

"It is very important that everyone in the community attends this forum and we are urging everyone to attend," Monroe Police Chief David B. Conklin wrote at the beginning of the press release detailing the forum. "Every parent, teenager, aunt, uncle, grandmother, grandfather, clergy, etc., should attend.

"We have seen so many times that parents had no idea that their child was using drugs," Conklin added. "We have responded to overdoses where the grieving parents have blamed themselves, saying they wish they knew their child was using so they could have got them help. We have also seen incidents where the parents knew but did not know how to help."

The forum will feature several speakers.

"You will hear real stories from a grieving mother who says that after her son died from a heroin overdose she started putting clues together," Conklin said, "and realized the signs were there but she didn’t recognize them at the time."

There also will be success stories told by two different people who were addicted to alcohol and drugs.

Monroe Village Police have collaborated with the Orange County Alcoholism and Drug Council, the Monroe-Woodbury Clergy Association, Monroe-Woodbury School District and the New York State National Guard Counter Drug Task Force to put on this forum.

There also will be informational booths, a discreet question and answer portion and a Hidden Mischief Room on display.

"Many people often say that we need to stop the heroin epidemic," the police chief said. "Now is the chance to do so. This is a community issue and we need the entire community to help us save a life."